Sailboat steering aid

ABSTRACT

A wind vane or rotatable sail rig is adjustably set to define a desired course with respect to the yacht&#39;&#39;s relative wind, and the vertical shaft from said wind device is connected to an integrator. Said integrator is made fast to the hull proper. And, to take advantage of shifting winds in the optimum manner, the hull should continually deviate from its mean course, either by the helmsman&#39;&#39;s action or through the use of an automatic controller on the rudder. Hence the input to the integrator is the deviation of the relative wind minus the deviation of the hull. This angular difference is integrated, and the resulting integral is displayed to the helmsman who steers by referring to its magnitude. Or the output integral motion, suitably geared down, may operate the helm directly.

United States Patent 1191 Menegus [451 Aug. 20, 1974 SAILBOAT STEERING AID 21 Appl. No.: 162,125

[52] US. Cl 114/144 C [51] 7 Int. Cl B63h 25/04 [58] Field of Search 114/144 R, 144 C; 73/188,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,846,458 2/1932 Robinson 114/144 C 2,505,555 4/1950 Levy 318/588 2,655,326 10/1953 Weick 244/76 C 2,736,856 2/1956 Sasaki et a1 318/588 2,836,064 5/1958 York 73/188 3,237,584 3/1966 Keithley, Jr 114/144 R 3,319,594 5/1967 Gianoli 114/144 C 3,323,138 5/1967 Bailey 73/188 3,552,206 1/1971 Lauter 73/188 3,685,478 8/1972 Casani et a1. 114/144 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 923,151 6/1947 France 244/82 Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Jesus D. Sotelo 57 ABSTRACT A wind vane or rotatable sail rig is adjustably set to define a desired course with respect to the yachts relative wind, and the vertical shaft from said wind device is connected to an integrator. Said integrator is made fast to the hull proper. And, to take advantage of shifting winds in the optimum manner, the hull should continually deviate from its mean course, either by the helmsmans action or through the use of an automatic controller on the rudder. Hence the input to the integrator is the deviation of the relative wind minus the deviation of the hull. This angular difference is integrated, and the resulting integral is displayed to the helmsman who steers by referring to its magnitude. Or the output integral motion, suitably geared down, may operate the helm-directly.

2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure SUMMARY This invention relates to sailing vessels now commonly used in sport and particularly to steering them skillfully in the normal wind. One object of this invention is to provide mechanical assistance by which the helmsman may steer an optimum course, especially to windward in races.

Even in the open seas far from any obstruction, the wind direction sometimes changes rapidly over spans of to 20Unless the helmsman repeatedly changes course and pays out or draws in sail sheets to correct for these directional variations, conventional sails stall over part of the wind cycle and lose appreciable thrust over another part of the cycle. Experienced sailors watch the mainsail luff and a pennant for signals of how and when rudder should be applied.

I find that a better signal to watch is the angular deviation of a rotatable sail rig or wind vane integrated with time, because if this integral is continually matched by the rudder angle, the rudder deviation is always small and leads the wind deviation by about a quarter period of the dominant wind cycle, and inefficient rudder manipulations are not called for as they are when one depends on the pennant for signals. In the absence of the integrator, the yachtsman spends years at the ships wheel in order to develop such a discriminatory skill.

For even when observing accurate wind signals as seen by indications on the pennant or other tell-tale devices, anyone can integrate these observations in his mind only with great difficulty. The human mind is a poor adder and subtractor of a long chain of visible deviations from the mean. But this operation is performed readily and reliably by a few handfuls of machinery. A number of integrators are available for this purpose.

My method and apparatus constitute an improvement over an existing wind vane steerer, wherein the vane operates a flap hinged along the trailing edge of an auxiliary rudder, and the flap in turn actuates said rudder to change course. Because the wind vane responds to every little wind deviation, the rudder swings back and forth three or four times too often, and the hull does not follow these rudder impluses every time they occur. The net result is excessive rudder drag in the water. On long cruises, however, comfort is the objective and increased drag is not important.

In contrast, the integrator puts the various sized oscillations of the wind in proper perspective, since the integral of an oscillatory mathematical function is inversely proportional to its frequency. Hence high frequency wind deviations that cannot possibly be followed by the massive and water-resisted hull are displayed as small components of the total integral, and the rudder is therefore not over-manipulated. In races, this is important.

Normally, the sailing vessel loses 5 to percent of the speed possible if the wind didnt shift repeatedly. That is, if the wind were absolutely steady in force and direction, conventional sails properly trimmed would exert 10 to 30 percent more usable thrust than they normally do. And when using conventional sails one cannot hope to recover a major fraction of this loss, for reasons explained above. Historically, the helmsman with experience may recover a few percent and win races more or less regularly. If he gains an additional few percent by referring to mechanical indicators, he has a good chance to further improve his racing'record, though of course many other considerations of design and maneuvering also affect the outcomes of races.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DETAILED DESCRIPTION Wind vane l, or alternatively a rotatable sail rig not shown, is connected mechanically through shafting at a desired relative angle to the axis of an electrically conducting follower 2. Said follower 2 makes electrical contact with either one of two electrical resistors 3 at varying points on either side of zero angle, at which point the two resistors are unconnected. Thus the angular deviation of the wind vane determines the electrical resistance in one of two opposing direct current circuit, in the one that happens to be energized at any instant. The other circuit is open. Each circuit is powered by a separate electrical cell 4. The direct current motor 5 is driven in either direction depending on the algebraic sign of the instantaneous angular deviation of wind vane l, at a motor speed substantially proportional to the angular deviation. For, to compensate for long term changes in load torque occasioned by wear, corrosion, and accumulated grime on the gears and bearings, the total electrical resistance of each resistor 3 is adjustably set to result in a motor speed very close to zero when the angular deviation approaches zero. This speed to angle proportionality is an essential requirement for the integrator. Through reduction gears 6 and 7 the integrated rotary motion is slowed so that the helmsmen may observe easily the instantaneous angular position of pointer 8 mounted on a shaft passing through the axis of wheel 10, and he matches the constantly changing position of pointer 8 with the wheel index 9. Or pointer 8 may be locked to wheel 10 if motor 5 is indeed large enough. Actually a small fraction of a horsepower is sufficient to operate the helm in this fashion. Through other reduction gearing wheel 10 drives the rudder in the conventional manner. Note that wheel 10 is shown geared in the old-fashioned way, that is, opposite to an automobile wheel. It may of course be geared either way.

Other known types of mechanical or electrical integrators than the vary simplest shown on FIG. 1 may be bought or built up from standard components and used without departing from the object of the invention, which is to integrate the apparent wind deviation, actually a difference, and to use this integral as demand for the rudder angle. The integrated signalmay be presented digitally on a counter, proportionally on a dial as in FIG. 1, non-proportionally on a dial so as to emphasize small integrals and de-emphasize large ones, or in any manner desired by sailors. Or the integrated signal may not be displayed but is used directly to actuate the rudder.

I claim:

1. As an aid for steering a sailing vessel operating in wind deviating in both directions from its mean angle relative to the vessel's course and requiring for maximum headway that the vessels course be continuously corrected the apparatus comprising a vertical shaft pivotally attached to said sailing vessel; a wind vane adjustably attached to the upper extremity of said vertical shaft such that said shaft is free to rotate along with said wind vane in response to wind direction changes; an electrically conductive follower, one end of which is fixed to the lower extremity of said vertical shaft and the other end being free to rotate congruently in angle with said wind vane and vertical shaft; a pair of electrical resistors mounted end-to-end in the path of the free end of said follower and making electrical contact with the free end, said pair of elecrical resistors being separated by a small electrically insulating gap on their proximate ends, having each of their distant ends adjustably set to a required total electrical resistance, and having each of their adjusted distant ends connectcd'to one of a pair of conventional batteries interconnected in series; an integrating device mounted on the hull of said sailing vessel and operatively connected with the wind vane such that the directional deviation of said wind vane minus the directional deviation of said vessels course is the time-integrated variable; said integrating device comprising a reversible D. C. motor having one terminal connected to the common junction of said pair of interconnected batteries and the other terminal connected to said electrically conductive follower, such that the follower in contact with one of said pair of electrical resistors forms one closed circuit driving said motor in one direction while in contact with the other of said pair of electrical resistors driving the same said motor in the opposite direction, and such that the rotational velocity of said integrating motor is proportional to said time-integrated variable; angular indicator means mounted on a horizontal shaft passing through the axis of the sailing vessels steering wheel and coupled to the output shaft of said integrating motor by gear means such that helmsman easily and continuously matches the angular orientation of said indicator with the angular orientation of said steering wheel.

2. As an aid for steering a sailing vessel operating in wind deviating in both directions from its mean angle relative to the vessels course and requiring for maximum headway that the vessels course be continuously corrected the apparatus comprising a vertical shaft pivotally attached to said sailing vessel; a wind vane adjustably attached to the upper extremity of said vertical shaft such that said shaft is free to rotate along with said wind vane in response to wind direction changes; an electrically conductive follower, one end of which is fixed to the lower extremity of said vertical shaft and the other end being free to rotate congruently in angle with said wind vane and vertical shaft; a pair of electrical resistors mounted end-to-end in the path of the free end of said follower and making electrical contact with the free end, said pair of electrical resistors being separated by a small electrically insulating gap on their proximate ends, having each of their distant ends adjustably set to a required total electrical resistance, and having each of their adjusted distant ends connected to one of a pair of conventional batteries interconnected in series; an integrating device mounted on the hull of said sailing vessel and operatively connected with the wind vane such that the directional deviation of said wind vane minus the directional deviation of said vessels course is the time-integrated variable; said integrating device comprising a reversible D. C. motor having one terminal connected to the common junction of said pair of interconnected batteries and the other terminal connected to said electrically conductive follower, such that the follower in contact with one of said pair of electrical resistors forms one closed circuit driving said motor in one direction while in contact with the other of said pair of electrical resistors driving the same said motor in the opposite direction, and such that the rotational velocity of said integrating motor is proportional to said time-integrated variable: reduction-gear means for coupling the output shaft of said integrating motor with the helm such that the rudder angular deviation is proportional to the integral delivered by the output shaft of said motor, thus creating an automatic rudder controller that rquires only occasional attention by the helmsman. 

1. As an aid for steering a sailing vessel operating in wind deviating in both directions from its mean angle relative to the vessel''s course and requiring for maximum headway that the vessel''s course be continuously corrected the apparatus comprising a vertical shaft pivotally attached to said sailing vessel; a wind vane adjustably attached to the upper extremity of said vertical shaft such that said shaft is free to rotate along with said wind vane in response to wind direction changes; an electrically conductive follower, one end of which is fixed to the lower extremity of said vertical shaft and the other end being free to rotate congruently in angle with said wind vane and vertical shaft; a pair of electrical resistors mounted end-to-end in the path of the free end of said follower and making electrical contact with the free end, said pair of elecrical resistors being separated by a small electrically insulating gap on their proximate ends, having each of their distant ends adjustably set to a required total electrical resistance, and having each of their adjusted distant ends connected to one of a pair of conventional batteries interconnected in series; an integrating device mounted on the hull of said sailing vessel and operatively connected with the wind vane such that the directional deviation of said wind vane minus the directional deviation of said vessel''s course is the time-integrated variable; said integrating device comprising a reversible D. C. motor having one terminal connected to the common junction of said pair of interconnected batteries and the other terminal connected to said electrically conductive follower, such that the follower in contact with one of said pair of electrical resistors forms one closed circuit driving said motor in one direction while in contact with the other of said pair of electrical resistors driving the same said motor in the opposite direction, and such that the rotational velocity of said integrating motor is proportional to said time-integrated variable; angular indicator means mounted on a horizontal shaft passing through the axis of the sailing vessel''s steering wheel and coupled to the output shaft of said integrating motor by gear means such that helmsman easily and continuously matches the angular orientation of said indicator with the angular orientation of said steering wheel.
 2. As an aid for steering a sailing vessel operating in wind deviating in both directions from its mean angle relative to the vessel''s course and requiring for maximum headway that the vessel''s course be continuously corrected the apparatus comprising a vertical shaft pivotally attached to said sailing vessel; a wind vane adjustably attached to the upper extremity of said vertical shaft such that said shaft is free to rotate along with said wind vane in response to wind direction changes; an electrically conductive follower, one end of which is fixed to the lower extremity of said vertical shaft and the other end being free to rotate congruently in angle with said wind vane and vertical shaft; a pair of electrical resistors mounted end-to-end in the path of the free end of said follower and making electrical contact with the free end, said pair of electrical resistors being separated by a small electrically insulating gap on their proximate ends, having each of their distant ends adjustably set to a required total electrical resistance, and having each of their adjusted distant ends connected to one of a pair of conventional batteries interconnected in series; an integrating device mounted on the hull of said sailing vessel and operatively connected with the wind vane such that the directional deviation of said wind vane minus the directional deviation of said vessel''s course is the time-integrated variable; said integrating device comprising a reversible D. C. motor having one terminal connected to the common junction of said pair of interconnected batteries and the other terminal connected to said Electrically conductive follower, such that the follower in contact with one of said pair of electrical resistors forms one closed circuit driving said motor in one direction while in contact with the other of said pair of electrical resistors driving the same said motor in the opposite direction, and such that the rotational velocity of said integrating motor is proportional to said time-integrated variable: reduction-gear means for coupling the output shaft of said integrating motor with the helm such that the rudder angular deviation is proportional to the integral delivered by the output shaft of said motor, thus creating an automatic rudder controller that rquires only occasional attention by the helmsman. 